Book Trailer
The Soul of a Horse – Life Lessons from the Herd

Here We Go Again

For those who remember Noelle and Malachi, you’ll know why the video is entitled Here We Go Again. It’s the beginning of a brand new journey with yet another pregnant mustang from the wild and her new baby. This begins at the BLM and ends in her new home. A mustang who had never willingly touched or been touched by a human.

“I had never laid hands on an unhandled horse. Or touched a new foal, handled or otherwise. Never mind one conceived in the wild. So you might think I’d be nervous. For reasons unknown I didn’t think I was. I was just anxious. Excited. At least that’s what I kept telling myself. The appropriate term, I believe, is naive.” Thus begins Chapter 6 of Born Wild. The anxiously anticipated sequel to Joe Camp’s National Best Seller The Soul of a Horse Life Lessons from the Wild.

The Soul of a Horse Paddock Paradise
What We Did, How We Did It & Why

When we first discovered that the genetics of a horse prescribe a lifestyle of living out 24/7 with lots and lots of movement we threw up our hands in frustration. We had no access to land other than a tiny plot behind the house that was virtually straight-up-and-down steep some of it totally unusable. Horses in the wild out in the Great Basin of the western United States – where their genetics evolved – travel 10-20 miles a day looking for grass forage, water, and staying away from predators. How could we even get close to replicating that with what we had to work with? But we did, all covered in this video.

Born Wild – Chapter 11 – Two Mustangs from the Wild
and their First Trip into a New Paddock

Two months ago Miss Saffron, a BLM pregnant mustang from the wild, had never willingly been touched by a human. Only those BLM folks moving her in and out of squeeze chutes and trailers. Eight weeks ago (3 days after we brought her home) she gave birth to her baby. Both of these mustangs have been nothing short of astonishing. See why.

First Romp in the Pasture
for Saffron and Stormy

Two Dominant Mustangs
Rounds 1, 2, & 3

On Miss Firestorm’s 10-week birthday we decided to see how her mom Saffron and Noelle, both mustangs out of the wild, would do sharing a pasture; the goal being to finally get the herd all together as one, all out 24/7 with both pastures to roam. The result was a disaster. Big mistake. You might have seen the still photos on the blog but only now have I risen to the occasion of getting the video edited and up. It’s brutal. Mostly because Saffy simply would not give up, and Noelle kept coming. That was Round One. Clearly too early. Too soon. We now believe that Saffron had more than dominance on her mind. She was protecting her baby.

Back to the drawing board. Or to separate pastures in this case. For the next four-and-a-half months we rotated horses and pastures every day so that both Noelle and Saffy would have time with all members of the herd – except each other – and everybody would get equal time in the east and west pastures. What a a logistical nightmare!

We’re now up to Round Three, and they’re all compressed into a five minute video cleverly entitled: Two Dominant Mustangs – Rounds 1, 2, & 3 :).

Kathleen and I believe you’ll enjoy and might even get a little something out of it. Please let us know. And let me know if you pick up what’s unique about the music :)

Benji Gets a New Baby… Horse

Stormy Sits on her Beanbag

Before Miss Firestorm was a week old she was lying in my lap, then sitting next to me on Allen Pogue’s famous bean bag. Soon she was sitting all alone. Now, at three months, she’s quite comfortable relaxing for long periods of time all by her big self, often dozing off while sitting. For more on this sweet baby conceived in the wild and her amazing mustang mom visit: https://thesoulofahorse.com/blog

Why Our Horses Are Barefoot?

Joe talks about the “lightbulb” moment he and Kathleen had, and all the reasons that left them no choice but to take their horses barefoot.

Why Our Horses Eat From the Ground

Joe Camp discusses why he and Kathleen changed from feeding their horses at table height to feeding from the ground. Another “lightbulb” moment.

Benji Movie Memories

Over the years Joe has written and directed five Benji movies starring three different Benji’s. These are clips from all of them.
See if you can tell who’s who.

Mouse – Our Rescue – Two Years Later

It took six big men to wrestle Mouse into a trailer to go to Monty Roberts’ farm where we met her. She had been rescued from horrendous conditions by the Animal Rescue League of Iowa. She was under a year old. Skin and bones. Her feet looked like elf shoes. And she was terrified of people. This video is two years later.

Dancing Barefoot

A delightful music video of barefoot horses, free from cages and stalls, happy as clams, living as nature intended.

Cash Goes to a TV Studio

My cover boy Cash makes his very first trip to a TV studio. Watching the huge camera crawl all around him is watching pure trust in action.

Noelle Loaded at the BLM – Day 1

Noelle, our first pregnant mustang fresh from the wild, was loaded at the BLM facility in Reno on December 20, 2008. Camp-like I had forgotten the video camera so Kathleen shot this with her little point-and-shoot; thus, sorry, no sound. She made the trip from Reno to our (then) home in Valley Center, CA is about 12 hours, very little the worse for wear. Her baby, Malachi, was born on March 3, 2009 and her entire story is chronicled on our blog: https://thesoulofahorse.com/blog.

Don’t Ask for Patience
God Will Give You a Horse

Day 18 with our mustang Noelle who had never touched or willingly been touched by any human before coming to us. Kathleen captured this my favorite Noelle video with her little point-and shoot camera. I was sitting on a rock holding the bowl, just being silent, and still. Waiting. It’s a great lesson in the rewards of patience. And somehow just knowing that such results actually do materialize helps me with my genetic disposition to always hurry up. There’s no sound but if you can make it through to the end you’ll never forget it.

Noelle’s Progress – Day 46

On this morning Kathleen said to me, “Do you realize that you’re always saying, ‘I wonder when I’m going to be able to do this or do that with Noelle.’ Just a few days ago you were saying you couldn’t wait until you could scratch her on the neck. Seriously, just a few days! And here you are scratching her neck, her chest, her leg, her ear, her face and are you satisfied, even just a little bit? Have you taken a moment to just sigh happily and say gee this is only Day 47 and look how well we’re doing?”

Noelle’s Progress – Day 70 – Molting Not Foaling

Day 70: Noelle had begun to bag up so we were expecting any day. This was probably not the best day Noelle and I have had, but I suspect she had other things on her mind. It was an unseasonably warm 87 degrees for March (in an unusually warm California winter) and the flies (the little bitty bitey ones) and bees were bothering all of us. You’ll hear Kathleen complaining as she shoots the video.

Grandpa’s New Years Gift

My youngest son, filmmaker Brandon Camp (Love Happens), put together a lovely video of moi, the horses, and two of my grandkids over the New Year holiday. Very special.

——

The story of our journey with horses (to date) is told in the two books that follow: the national best seller The Soul of a Horse – Life Lessons from the Herd and its sequel Born Wild – The Soul of a Horse.

And what a story it is as two novices without a clue stumble and bumble their way through the learning process so that hopefully you won’t have to. If you haven’t read both of these books already please do because with that reading, I believe, will come not just the knowledge of discovery but the passion and the excitement to cause you to commit to your journey with horses, to do for the horse without waiver so that your relationship and experience will be with loving, happy and healthy horses who are willing partners and who never stop trying for you. Horses like ours.

The highly acclaimed best selling sequel to the National Best SellerThe Soul of a Horse – Life Lessons from the Herd

Please list the names for each inscription in the “instructions to Seller” field as you check out!

“Joe Camp is a master storyteller.” – The New York Times

“One cannot help but be touched by Camp’s love and sympathy for animals and by his eloquence on the subject.” – Michael Korda, The Washington Post

“Joe Camp is a natural when it comes to understanding how animals tick and a genius at telling us their story. His books are must-reads for those who love animals of any species.” – Monty Roberts – Author of New York Timers Best-seller The Man Who Listens to Horses

“Camp’s tightly-written, simply-designed and powerfully drawn chapters often read like short stories that flow from the heart.” Jack L. Kennedy – The Joplin Independent

“Joe Camp is a gifted storyteller and the results are magical. Joe entertains, educates and empowers, baring his own soul while articulating keystone principles of a modern revolution in horsemanship.” – Rick Lamb – TV/Radio host – The Horse Show

“One cannot help but be touched by Camp’s love and sympathy for animals and by his eloquence on the subject.” – Michael Korda, The Washington Post – See more at: https://thesoulofahorse.com/blog/the-books-of-joe-camp/born-wild-the-soul-of-a-horse/#sthash.6KJjzSLr.dpuf

“One cannot help but be touched by Camp’s love and sympathy for animals and by his eloquence on the subject.” – Michael Korda, The Washington Pos – See more at: https://thesoulofahorse.com/blog/the-books-of-joe-camp/born-wild-the-soul-of-a-horse/#sthash.6KJjzSLr.dpuf

“One cannot help but be touched by Camp’s love and sympathy for animals and by his eloquence on the subject.” – Michael Korda, The Washington Pos – See more at: https://thesoulofahorse.com/blog/the-books-of-joe-camp/born-wild-the-soul-of-a-horse/#sthash.6KJjzSLr.dpuf

Joe & Kathleen

Barely eight years ago Joe and Kathleen Camp entered the world of horses without a horse or a clue and very quickly found their questions steering them into uncharted and controversial waters on a collision course with the ultimate discovery that most "domestic" horses in the world are being kept and cared for in a manner that is diametrically contradictory to their genetic design. Since that moment they have both become passionate advocates for change.
Kathleen is a lawyer specializing in litigation and is now teaching American Literature at The Webb School. Joe created the international canine superstar Benji and wrote, produced, and directed all five of the Benji movies and various television programs. His recent book The Soul of a Horse is a national best seller and in its ninth printing.
Even with all the accomplishments and media exposure, Camp is still in awe of his own success. “Inside, I’m still a kid sitting in a dark theater in Little Rock, Arkansas, watching Disney’s ‘Song of the South’ or reading books like the Black Stallion with happy tears rolling down my cheeks,” he says. “To be able to bringt that kind of happiness to others is very special.”
For more, click on the About Joe & Kathleen link in the header bar above.